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For the first time this season, a driver not named "Sebastien" might win in the World Rally Championship. Jari-Matti Latvala is winning in Greece. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Volkswagen's Jari-Matti Latvala leads WRC Acropolis Rally with one day to go

May 31, 2013

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A driver not answering to the name Sebastien is on course to win a round of the World Rally Championship this year with Jari-Matti Latvala holding a clear advantage heading into the final day of the Acropolis Rally.

Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier have done the winning in the WRC so far this season with Loeb triumphing twice for Citroen and Ogier claiming three wins for Volkswagen. But with Loeb not competing in Greece and Ogier out of contention after he stopped on Friday's first stage with a fuel pressure problem, Latvala can make it victory number one in 2013 providing he can get through Sunday's closing four stages unscathed.

But if Latvala still tops the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon then he'll owe a debt of gratitude to the sharp rock that felled Evgeny Novikov's Ford Fiesta on today's second stage when the young Russian was leading by almost 40 seconds.

The impact punctured his right-rear tire and also left his car with a damaged suspension and brakes. With almost three full stages remaining until service in Loutraki, Novikov was powerless to prevent the significant time loss he suffered to the extent that he languishes in ninth at the overnight halt and more than eight minutes off the lead.

However, there were no such problems for Latvala with the Finn steadily growing his advantage during the afternoon and claiming the 50th stage win for VW's Polo in the process. Dani Sordo is second overnight -- 1 minute, 4.1 seconds behind Latvala -- after the Spaniard adopted a risk-free approach in his Citroen. Sordo has struggled on recent rounds and is determined to finish on the podium.

“It's been a good day but this is the Acropolis Rally and anything can still happen because the stages get so rough and it's so easy to get a puncture or damage your car,” said Latvala. “But I have to be happy with my performance. It's going well.

“It's been by far the best day for me since I joined Volkswagen. If you'd told me after yesterday's qualifying washout that we'd be leading the rally today, I would never have believed you. But that's the way it goes in the Acropolis. Something can happen any time and the tiniest mistake can cost a driver dear. We tried to put a lot of pressure on the competition today without risking too much ourselves. Once we were at the front of the pack, it was all about securing our lead and keeping our concentration. All in all, we put in a very sound performance and so did our team because our Polo worked perfectly. But as I say, the Acropolis is unpredictable. We haven't won yet and we'll be looking to make it across the finishing line with first place securely in the bag tomorrow.”

Thierry Neuville, the young Belgian Fiesta driver, is third overnight with Nasser Al-Attiyah fourth. The former Dakar Rally winner moved ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen when the VW driver suffered complete brake failure on Saturday's third stages. Mikkelsen's efforts to close the gap to Al-Attiyah were hampered when he picked up a front-right puncture on the rain-hit final stage.

Mads Ostberg's recovery from the broken wheel he suffered on stage one has taken him to sixth overall, one place ahead of Martin Prokop. Mikko Hirvonen is eighth after dropping time in the afternoon with a puncture.

Ex-Formula One driver Robert Kubica continues to lead the WRC 2 category following another impressive display in his Citroen Regional Rally Car. He is 11th overall, one place behind WRC title leader Ogier, who restarted under Rally 2 rules following his retirement on Friday and overtook Kubica on Saturday's final stage. “The second passes of the stages were extremely rough and I never saw something like this,” said Kubica. “But it has been a good day.”

Sunday's action begins at 10:23 a.m. local time with the 11.47-kilometer Pissia stage.